The present invention relates to a system for receiving a tooth replacement part and placing (transferring) the tooth replacement part into a patient's mouth. The tooth replacement part has a securing projection. The system includes a holder for transferring and placing the tooth replacement part into the patient's mouth. The correlated packaging system is designed to receive a plurality of tooth replacement parts of the aforementioned kind.
A system for receiving and transferring tooth replacement parts is known from German Patent Application 196 02 500.1. An insert or inlay is provided with a securing projection for handling it which is designed to ensure safe attachment of a holder so that the small, and thus difficult to manipulate, inlay or insert can be removed from its packaging and can be introduced into the prepared cavity of a tooth to be restored. For example, the insert or inlay may be 1 mm thick and may have a length and width of 3 mm. Due to its small size and the resulting difficulty in handling it with tweezers, which must engage the insert at its wide sides, it is known to provide the insert or inlay with a securing projection in the form of a peg or pin which after completed insertion and cementing of the insert or inlay within the tooth is removed.
Such a rounded securing projection is, however, difficult to engage by tweezers especially in view of the fact that an exact positioning of the insert within the tooth cavity is required. It is thus known, for example, from German Offenlegungsschrift 44 39 410, to provide a holder which is to be attached with a clamping element made of an elastic material onto the securing projection to thereby securely hold the tooth replacement part. The clamping element provides a certain press-fit on the securing projection which improves the holding action, but, on the other hand, makes it more difficult to introduce the securing projection with the insert or inlay.
Furthermore, there is the risk that, despite the clamping action of the clamping element, the insert or inlay can be lost and swallowed by the patient if accidentally hitting an obstacle within the mouth of the patient. In the worst case the inlay or insert could even be inhaled by the patient. Thus, in this suggested technical solution, the clamping action must be very strong which, however, makes it more difficult to remove the holder after completed insertion of the inlay or insert especially in view of the fact that, after positioning within the tooth cavity, not even the slightest displacement of the tooth replacement part should occur.
A further problem of this known tooth replacement part is that the insertion of the securing projection into the clamping element, because of its smaller size, is not very easily performed. In this context, there is also the problem that the tooth replacement part must remain sterile. In some cases, the tooth replacement parts are coated with a silane coating so that they cannot be handled by hand in order not to endanger the bonding to the composite material. Such a tooth replacement part has been suggested already with the aforementioned German Patent Application P 196 02 500.1.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a system of the aforementioned kind as well as a packaging system of the aforementioned kind which allows for a risk-free but comfortable and inexpensive as well as hygienic handling of the tooth replacement part and which also meets the day-to-day requirements of a dental practice.